This talk will draw a link between the proliferation of images of 'out ofcontrol' young white women on reality TV and the manner in which gender andgender roles are being discussed in this new age of empire. It will focus on thereality TV shows /My Super Sweet Sixteen /and /Bridezilla/, showing howanxieties about gender and power are continually produced and reproduced inthese shows about what we have now come to understand as iconic female rites ofpassage. The talk will conclude with a discussion of the ways in which, to quoteToni Morrison, an 'Africanist presence'

("Africanist presence"?! OK, now my neurons are over-heating . . .)

gets deployed in these discussions of white female rebellion, by contrastingimages of white 'out of control women' with images of African American women whoare engaged in seemingly similar behavior.

Ooohh, but things are not quite as they seem, as I'm sure we'll find out in this lecture!!!